


Be Careful What You Wish For

by Jammy_Jams



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Asriel never becomes Flowey, Chara is at peace, Hurt/Comfort, No resets, Or time shenanigans, i just want everyone to be happy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-16
Updated: 2015-11-17
Packaged: 2018-05-01 22:07:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5222705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jammy_Jams/pseuds/Jammy_Jams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An AU in which Asriel never turned into Flowey, Toriel can no longer handle living in the ruins after losing six children, Papyrus is the one to find Frisk after falling, and there are a lot of misconceptions about humans.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It took Frisk nearly all afternoon to scale Mt. Ebbot, or “The Vindictive Mountain,” as some of the neighboring cities called it. It earned its nickname from the fact that every person who tried to conquer it never returned, almost as though the mountain just swallowed them up to keep its spiteful status. So Frisk, not knowing what to expect, simply decided to keep climbing until something happened. 

By the time they were nearing the top, the sun had already begun to set, casting an angry red glow over the craggy rocks and bushes that dotted the mountain’s side. Their short,7-year-old limbs tiredly scrambled over the uneven ground before them as they tried not to think of the last time they had eaten. Small scrapes and bruises littered their forearms and legs, not all of them new, and traces of blood lingered where thorns and brambles tugged along their skin and clothes.

But they were determined to keep climbing. 

The only thing their determination outweighed was their exhaustion. As the last rays of the setting sun momentarily blinded them, flashes of irate screaming, broken bottles, and drunken fists skittered across their vision, and they wished the mountain would hurry with its magic and make them disappear. Though it would only be one more disappointment to bear if their pleas were the first ones to be ignored in centuries. 

It was getting darker quickly, and the bitter fall night air was starting to blow over the mountain. Frisk began to trip and stumble more frequently in the fading light, and a despairing chant- punctuated by their chattering teeth- looped in their head. 

“Just let me disappear, I don’t want to be here anymore. Just let me disappear, no one wants me. Just let me disappear, I can’t go bac-”

And a small, startled noise escaped them as they tripped over a root, hidden in the dark, fell down, down, into a black pit.

___________

 

Papyrus was making his usual rounds in the Ruins to check for hiding humans. He quickly, yet methodically, made his way through all the old rooms and puzzles, holding a large bone in his gloved hand and prepared to summon more if necessary. The dusty chambers usually filled him with a sense of peacefulness, if not a little sadness, but one could never be too careful with humans.

Of course, Sans didn’t know he was here; his lazy, worrywart brother felt it was far too dangerous for Papyrus to take on a human without backup. He wasn’t even a member of the royal guard yet! But that didn’t mean he wasn’t trying. Papyrus knew Undyne felt he was far too soft hearted to ever hurt anyone, even a human, and capturing one was the only way he could convince her to let him join. 

Humans, as they had been taught, were cruel creatures that didn’t need love or kindness to survive. It was their ferocity, blood-thirst, and selfishness that had forced all the monsters into the Underground so many centuries ago… Though Papyrus didn’t entirely believe that they had no capacity to love; they had such powerful souls, surely they could learn? Of course, the only ones who had seen a human since then were the few members of the royal guard that delivered the ones that fell to King Asgore. To be honest, Papyrus was a little afraid of encountering one, but he knew all of his dedication and training would pay off!

Papyrus winced. At the moment, Sans believed he was at Waterfall, training with Undyne. He thought Papyrus trained with Undyne at this time every day, instead of checking the Ruins. This was the only way he could think of finding a human before anyone else did, and didn’t want to make his brother worry. 

No one else in the Underground even knew the door to the Ruins had been opened- after decades of it being stuck! Papyrus had stumbled upon a few months ago after Sans returned early from guard duty, seemingly disappointed about something. His eyes glowed a bit dimmer, even though he tried to put on a brave face for Papyrus’ sake. It didn’t work, and when he was threatened with concerned, brotherly affection, Sans mumbled something along the lines of, “she doesn’t answer anymore” and slouched into his room. Since then, Sans had stopped guarding the door to the Ruins, choosing to stay at his post near Snowdin when he bothered going to work at all. It was the perfect practice for a future Royal Guard! But the door was cracked open the slightest bit when he first arrived. Since then, he’d visited every day to look for…

Papyrus was startled out of his guilty reverie when he heard a strange noise emanating from the very back of the Ruins. He listened closely as he picked up his pace and walked quickly towards it. It was hard to tell exactly what the sound was after it bounced and echoed off the rocky walls, but he hoped it was a human. He also hoped that they would be cooperative and he wouldn’t have to hurt them too badly. Papyrus clutched the bone in his hand a little tighter as sidestepped the now-familiar traps, and peered around the large archway that led to the last of the rooms. 

This dim cavern had the highest ceiling in all the ruins and was nearly empty, other than some plants and the small body near the very end. The tiny thing was sitting upright in a bed of flowers; its head facing downwards, a short curtain of brown hair obscuring its face, as it cradled one of its arms close to its body. Its thin, shaking shoulders were hunched over, and it seemed to be trying to stifle the soft cries that were coming from its mouth without much success. Red liquid slowly oozed from a shallow gash on its forehead, dripping onto golden flowers below.

“Blood,” his brain supplied, half remembering a school lesson taught long ago, “Monsters flake turn to dust, while humans drain and leave their bodies behind.” So it was a human after all.

When it appeared the human wasn’t going to move on its own, and after realizing it wasn’t going to stop making those awful noises, Papyrus decided to get closer and readied his magic for what would hopefully be a quick and nonviolent capture. What his school textbooks didn’t say was how much blood a human could lose before it was incapacitated, or worse fatal. This one was a lot smaller than he imagined it would be, and he was worried about it losing too much blood, or recovering and attacking.

Papyrus tried to move as quietly as possible… and immediately stepped on a twig. It snapped quite loudly under his foot, and the human’s face whipped around to stare at him as the sound echoed off the walls.

It looked absolutely terrified. 

It frantically tried to stand with its arm still cradled to its chest, but quickly lost its balance and began falling backward, startling Papyrus into summoning several bones from beneath the ground around him. It landed back in the flower patch, catching itself with both its arms, and as the arm it had been cradling hit the ground it let out a pained cry and fell sideways. 

“WHOA-,” Papyrus took an instinctive step forward, and it desperately tried to push itself back using its legs while still clasping its arm, eyes streaming with tears. After a few inches its back hit the cavern wall and its pupils began darting wildly from Papyrus’ face, to the large bone he was holding, to the summoned bones jutting from the ground, and back again. It looked as though it was hyperventilating. 

This wasn’t at all what Papyrus had been led to expect. He had anticipated finding a large and angry creature, followed by a battle of wits and strength in which he was sure to excel, leading the human through his puzzles and traps and using his magic to fend of powerful attacks. He didn’t imagine a small, round face with the wide eyes of an injured animal. He didn’t think it would feel this… bad. 

A few more seconds passed and Papyrus took another hesitant step forward, causing the human to flinch back and screw their eyes shut. It was even wearing stripes; it must be a child! As it trembled and tried to crush itself down as small as possible, making no move to fight back, Papyrus made up his mind. 

He tried to make his voice as quiet and soothing as possible, which was still normal volume for most people, and tossed the bone he has holding away. 

“HUMAN,” he pleaded as he crouched down in front of them, “I… I MEAN YOU NO HARM. FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, CAN CLEARLY SEE THAT YOU HAVE BEEN TERRIBLY WOUNDED AND ARE IN NO CONDITION TO FIGHT. ENGAGING YOU IN BATTLE NOW WOULD BE… UNPORTSMANLIKE.”

As he spoke, the child slowly opened their eyes to look at him again, though they didn’t stop shivering. Papyrus still took it as encouragement and pressed on.

“HOW, TINY HUMAN, DID YOU COME UPON SUCH INJURIES? I HAVE BEEN LED TO BELIEVE THAT THAT RED LIQUID IS SUPPOSED TO REMAIN INSIDE OF YOUR BODY, IS IT NOT?” 

Using the wall as a brace, the child slowly and shakily sat up, and looked up at the opening on the ceiling. Papyrus looked up too, noting all the rocky outcroppings and ledges the human could have hit on the way down. Looking back at the human, Papyrus saw a dark bruise forming on the arm the human was cradling, and realized that it was probably broken. Various scrapes and bruises colored the skin on their face, arms, and legs a multitude of greens and purples. The gash on their forehead wasn’t too deep, but appeared painful nonetheless and was still sluggishly oozing where it hadn’t scabbed over yet. The look on the human’s face was far too hopeless for one so young, and made Papyrus’ chest feel strangely hollow.

“HUMAN!” He exclaimed, causing the child to jump and jerk their head back down to look at him. Papyrus winced internally and tried to control his volume. “I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, CANNOT IN GOOD CONSCIENCE RETURN HOME AND LEAVE YOU IN THESE RUINS TO FEND FOR YOURSELF! I WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO LOOK AT MY DEVILISHLY HANDSOME FACE IN THE MIRROR AGAIN IF I KNEW I LEFT SOMEONE IN NEED!” 

The child looked surprised at that; no doubt they saw Papyrus looming in the dark with his weapon at the ready, and assumed he would take advantage of their sorry state and bring them more harm. He felt a flash of guilt for startling them into falling onto their broken arm.

“FEAR NOT! FOR I SHALL AID YOU ON YOUR ROAD TO RECOVERY! AND AFTER THAT… WELL, I’M REALLY NOT SURE YET BUT WE’LL FIGURE SOMETHING OUT.” 

He held out his bony arms toward the human and they looked at him confusedly, though noticeably more relaxed. 

“COME, SMALL HUMAN! I SHALL TAKE YOU TO MY HOUSE, WHERE I, THE GREAT AND MERCIFUL PAPYRUS, WILL HAVE THE NECESSARY SUPPLIES TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO FIX YOU!” He wiggled his arms to show them that they were still outstretched and ready to help them stand. 

Cautiously, the human child grasped one of his arms with their unbroken one, and stood up. Papyrus kept his arms out to make sure they wouldn’t fall over, and the human paused to look him in the eye. Several emotions were warring on their face, but in the end, the one that won out was… determination. Papyrus almost fell backward when they took an unexpected step forward to throw their arm around his neck and bury their face in his scarf. After a few moments, Papyrus carefully closed his arms around the small child while trying not to put any pressure on their injuries. They were so thin underneath their oversized sweater, and Papyrus let them lean most their weight onto him. They felt exhausted. 

“Thank you.” 

The voice was so soft he almost didn’t hear it, but still made him feel a warmth from depth within his soul. After what seemed like an age condensed into a minute, the child pulled back, and Papyrus stood and motioned for them to follow him back through the Ruins. 

The human eyed the bones that were still sticking out of the ground from his aborted attack as they passed by, and looked at him questioningly.

“AH!” He exclaimed, and lowered them back into the ground with a downward sweep of his arm. “I SUPPOSE YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT MAGIC IS! THOSE ARE MY SPECIAL BONE ATTACKS THAT I USE TO DEFEND MYSELF. I CAN SUMMON THEM FROM MY ROOM AT HOME USING TELEPORTATION MAGIC! ISN’T IT NEATO?” 

The human nodded, but didn’t reply; Papyrus got the feeling they weren’t one for conversation, so he simply continued to talk while walking through the old rooms in order to put them more at ease. He talked about the snowy town he lived in, the various townspeople, his figurine collection, his hobbies, his favorite foods. He may have gotten a little too caught up in the virtues of good pasta because when he looked up, the child had gotten ahead of him and managed to solve a puzzle all on their own! He was so proud he could cry! He told them as much and was rewarded with a small smile that made him feel warm inside again.

At first, the child seemed interested in their new surroundings and tried to solve a few puzzles themselves, but exhaustion from their ordeal quickly caught up with them. When Papyrus noticed them starting to fall behind, he carefully scooped them up into his arms and continued walking. The child didn’t protest, and leaned their head against his clavicle as they watched the rooms pass by. As the pair approached the exit, Papyrus realized that there would be a… minor complication in getting them back to his home in Snowdin, and set them back on their feet.

“HUMAN…” He started uncertainly, then continued on with wildly gesturing hand movements, “I AM UNSURE OF WHAT WEATHER CONDITIONS YOU ARE USED TO UP ON THE SURFACE, BUT IT IS VERY COLD HERE. THAT THIN SWEATER OF YOURS COULD NEVER STAND UP TO THESE TEMPERATURES, EVEN IF IT IS LOVELY!”

The child glanced down at their sweater and back up to Papyrus’ face questioningly. 

“FEAR NOT! FOR I HAVE THOUGHT OF A WONDERFUL PLAN! YOU ARE SMALL, VERY SMALL, AND THEREFORE YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SIT QUITE COMFORTABLY IN… MY… RIBCAGE.” He finished, voice dropping off toward the end as he hesitantly patted the front of his sweater.

The human didn’t look terribly excited about that, but since they had calmed down their face wasn’t making much of an expression at all so it was difficult to tell. Luckily Papyrus had had a lot of practice in deciphering Sans’ moods, and could read some concern in the slight pinch of their brow.

“DO NOT WORRY, YOU WILL NOT HARM ME AND I WILL SHIELD YOU FROM THE WIND!”

Though visibly reluctant, the child nodded and bravely allowed their self to be carefully tucked into the hollow space behind his ribs, still holding their arm against their chest. He waited for a light tap signifying that they were braced and comfortable before he started moving again. The added weight was strange, though not unpleasant, and he quickly adjusted to his new passenger.

Papyrus had neglected to mention that the other reason he needed them to stay hidden underneath his sweater was in case they ran into any members of the Royal Guard. The townsfolk may not know what humans looked like, but the Guard dogs might be able to sniff them out if their scent wasn’t masked. 

As Papyrus opened the heavy stone door to the outside of the Ruins, it occurred to him that he had quite forgotten his manners. He pulled his scarf and the neck of his sweater away to look down at the child nestled in his ribs, and his heart nearly melted at the sight of them safely curled up against the curves of his bones.

“BY THE WAY, WHAT IS YOUR NAME, TINY HUMAN?”

So quietly, it was almost swept away in the wind, he heard a small voice reply,

“Frisk.”

And then they were off, into the snow.


	2. Chapter 2

Frisk was warm. They had thought the skeleton who was carrying them through the snow would be cold to the touch, but they were wrong. The rib bones they were curled up against were nearly as warm as their own skin, and surprisingly comfortable. The light filtering through the soft material of Papyrus’ sweater was dim, and the air felt slightly damp from their own breath. It was almost like being in a cocoon, swaying in the wind. The gentle rocking of Papyrus’ footsteps was lulling them into a doze, and if Frisk still had the energy for it, they would have been amazed to find that being curled up inside a monster’s ribcage and carried toward the unknown was the safest they had felt in a long time.

____________________

For the first time in his life, Papyrus was glad that Sans was so lazy and hadn’t recalibrated his puzzles; it made the trek back to Snowdin a lot quicker. He was unfamiliar with human biology, and didn’t know if Frisk felt too warm or too cold under his sweater, or how long they would be okay scrunched into that tiny ball. They hadn’t uttered a word of protest so far, but, as Papyrus reflected, they also hadn’t complained about the obvious pain of their broken arm or exhaustion when they were in the Ruins. It seemed as though the child simply wouldn’t voice when they were feeling distressed, and it was beginning to worry him.

“ _HOW WILL I LEARN TO PROPERLY CARE FOR THEM IF THEY WON’T TELL ME WHEN I’M DOING IT WRONG_?” He thought, as he passed by the large “Welcome to Snowdin” sign at the edge of town.

A prickle of sweat broke out on the back of his neck. Each step he took brought them closer to home, where Sans would be waiting, completely unaware of his precious cargo. Papyrus knew he could trust his brother with anything, but harboring the entire Underground’s most feared creature right in the middle of town might be a bit… hard to swallow at first.

Any chance that Sans was still..? No. Looking through the windows of Grillby’s, Papyrus could see that his brother wasn’t there, and there was only one other place he would be at this hour. Papyrus took a deep breath and pressed on toward their house.

The light from the living room was shining through the front window and reflecting off the snow; the flickering told him that Sans was watching TV on the couch. Alrighty then, it appeared he would be conducting introductions sooner rather than later. The cheery wreath hanging on the front door seemed to mock him as he hesitated on the front steps, and if Papyrus had a tongue he would have blown and raspberry at it.

“ALL I NEED TO DO IS SHOW HIM HOW GOOD THIS HUMAN IS! FRISK ENJOYS PUZZLES AND LISTENING TO ME TALK AND HASN’T HURT ANYONE! THEY HAVE SO MUCH IN COMMON ALREADY! I’M SURE HE’LL LIKE THEM AS MUCH AS I DO!”

“NYEH HEH HEH!” he said aloud, as he turned the door knob.

___________________

Sans blinked tiredly at the TV without taking any of the images in; his mind was preoccupied with other things. King Asgore already had six of the seven human souls necessary to break the barrier, and after that all the monsters would be free to walk the surface again. It wasn’t that Sans didn’t want to leave the Underground, he was just afraid of what would happen once they did. It was as though all the monsters had forgotten what drove them here in the first place.

Humans were powerful beings, and there was no way a small group of Royal Guards and untrained monsters could ever survive a full-blown war against humanity. But the promise of freedom and war was the only thing keeping hope alive in the Underground, and the only thing keeping hope alive for his brother was joining the Royal Guard, the first line of attack.

Sans sighed and rubbed his skull as he heard the front door open.

“hey pap, how was-” Sans voice dropped off as he turned his head saw the unmistakably guilty look on Papyrus’ face.

Sans knew Papyrus hadn’t been training at Undyne’s every night for the last few weeks. Who has two separate training and cooking lessons a day? Papyrus was a lot of things- strong, loyal, loving- but a good liar he was not. Sans gripped the armrest of the faded couch and braced himself for whatever trouble his brother had been getting himself into.

“HE-HELLO BROTHER! I NOTICED THAT YOU HAVE NOT RECALIBRATED YOUR PUZZLES YOU LAZYBONES! YOU REALLY SHOULD STOP SLACKING OFF. A-ANYWAY, I FOUND A SURPRISE ON THE WAY HOME TONIGHT, AND I THINK YOU’LL LIKE IT VERY MU-”

Papyrus’ speech was interrupted by a small sneeze coming from the vicinity of his chest.

Sans was off the couch and on his feet immediately, walking closer to his brother and eyeing his sweater suspiciously. “what was that?”

“TH-THAT WAS THE SURPRISE! HERE, LET ME SHOW YOU!”

Papyrus grabbed the hem of his homemade costume and lifted in enough that Sans could see a small tuft of brown hair matted with dried blood on the head of a sleeping child.

A human child.

He could feel his left eye flare up with magic and instinctively raised his hand as Papyrus yelled, “STOP, STOP!” and pulled his sweater back down. “THEY’RE OKAY! WE’LL THEY’RE ACTUALLY VERY BADLY INJURED- BUT THEY’RE NOT DANGEROUS!”

“pap- what- of course it’s dangerous, get that thing out of your ribcage before it decides to smash its way out and-”

“SANS I NEED YOUR HELP!”

Sans paused at the sudden outburst from his brother and Papyrus continued, “I FOUND THEM, IN- IN THE RUINS,” and at Sans sudden start he added, “AND I’LL EXPLAIN THAT LATER, BUT RIGHT NOW THEY’RE HURT AND THEY NEED ASSISTANCE. THEY FELL DOWN HERE FROM THE SURFACE, AND I THINK THEY’RE ARM IS BROKEN AND THEY HAVE A LARGE CUT ON THEIR FORHEAD AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO, PLEASE.”

Sans looked at the way Papyrus had his arms wrapped around his torso and the way he hunched forward to further protect the human child, looking more serious than Sans had seen him in a long time. He took a deep breath and let his eye fade back to white, blinking a few times to clear it, and Papyrus stood back up to full height, watching him anxiously.

“alright,” Papyrus’ face lit up, “but! if they try anything funny i’m calling the royal guard. i’m sure undyne would have a _bone_ to pick with them.” Papyrus groaned at the pun, but otherwise looked immensely relieved to have his brother’s support. “what do you need me to do?”

Papyrus removed his scarf and walked over to the couch to set it on the armrest, then grabbed the neck of his sweater and pulled it away from his chest. He looked down into the dark gap and said, “THE HUMAN IS STILL SLEEPING,” he looked back down at Sans and continued, “I NEED YOU TO HELP ME REMOVE THEM WITHOUT JOSTLING THEIR WOUNDED ARM, AND THEN CLEAN THEM UP. I’LL NEED TO MAKE A BATCH OF FRESH SPAGHETTI FOR WHEN THEY WAKE UP! NYEH HEH HEH! THEY’LL BE SO IMPRESSED MY COOKING SKILLS THEY’LL GET BETTER IN NO TIME!”

Standing up, Sans only came up to the middle of Papyrus’ chest, so it was easy to slide the sleeping child from under Papyrus’ ribs and cradle them to his chest. Sans sat down and stared at the tiny human in his arms as Papyrus ran up the stairs to procure bedding material for the couch. They were painfully thin; Sans could easily feel their bones through the oversized striped sweater and didn’t think that was healthy. He would have to borrow some books on human physiology from Alphys if they were really going to take care of this kid. The child’s hair was obscuring their face, and Sans gently brushed it aside to get a better look.

Their face was relaxed in a way that could only be achieved through complete and utter exhaustion; the eyelashes on their closed lids lightly brushed against the chubby cheeks below. Dried tear-tracks cut through the grime on their face and revealed the smooth, dark skin underneath, and their lips seemed to be set in a determined line even in sleep.

Sans blinked as they made a small noise turned their face to press it against the soft material of his jacket. Before he could so something stupid, like start running his fingers through the kid’s hair, Papyrus came bounding back down the stairs with an arm full of blankets and pillows.

He stood up to let Papyrus arrange a makeshift bed on the couch and asked, “you’re not gonna use the garage ya worked so hard on?”

“OF COURSE NOT! THE GARAGE IS FOR HEALTHY, MEAN HUMANS ONLY.”

“heh. yeah, that would really be-”

“SANS-”

“sending ‘em to the _dog house_.”

Sans grinned as Papyrus groaned miserably into a pillow before setting it on the couch and motioning for Sans to lay the human down. Once the human was carefully tucked in so they wouldn’t roll over onto their broken arm, the two skeletons made their way into the kitchen.

It was spotless as usual; Papyrus always made sure to scrub the walls and ceiling after making spaghetti so it wouldn’t stain. Sans watched as his brother pulled a clean rag out from under their ridiculously tall sink and set it on the counter. He then turned a took a large bowl out from the cupboards, reached up to fill it with warm water from the faucet, and turned to hand both items to Sans.

As Sans stared at him in confusion until Papyrus said, “I NEED TO MAKE FRESH SPAGHETTI FOR THE HUMAN, WHO WILL PROBABLY BE UNHAPPY ABOUT WAKING UP WITH THAT DRIED RED LIQUID ON THEIR FACE,” and shooed him out of the kitchen to clean the human up.

Sans dipped the rag in the bowl of warm water and started wiping the human’s face while Papyrus sheepishly explained over the din of cooking where he had been going the last few weeks, and where he had found the human, apparently named “Frisk.” He revealed that the old rooms and caverns of Ruins were well and truly abandoned, and Sans heart sank. It seemed the voice behind the door was never coming back, and his arms suddenly felt heavy. Maybe a little too heavy; a pained noise made Sans look down to where the rag was pressed harshly against the scabbed-over gash, and his glowing, white eyes met a very startled pair of brown pupils.

They immediately tried to sit up, but Sans stopped them by pressing a gentle, bony hand against their chest and eliciting another distressed sound. Their eyes darted around the unfamiliar environment anxiously, but they made no move to attack the hand that held them down. He watched as their breathing audibly picked up speed while their face wasn’t making much of an expression other than a light grimace. Huh, weird.

“whoa there kiddo, easy. it’s alright.” Sans soothed as he turned his head and called over his shoulder, “hey, pap, the kid’s awake.” Most of the tension left the child’s shoulders as they heard Papyrus’ happy exclamation from the kitchen, though they still seemed uncertain.

Sans stepped back as Papyrus nearly tripped over himself to kneel down beside the child on the couch, and couldn’t help but smile at the tall skeleton’s antics. Papyrus pushed his arm underneath Frisk’s back and helped them sit upright against the back of the couch; the kid clutched their arm uncomfortably while still trying to give Papyrus a small smile.

“TINY HUMAN!” Papyrus exclaimed, while ruffling their hair and drawing out a soft giggle, causing him to beam even brighter, “YOU LOOK POSITIVELY 100% BETTER! COURTESY OF MY BROTHER SANS! WELL DONE SANS!” Frisk looked toward him gave a small nod of thanks, and Sans shrugged in return. “TELL ME, ARE YOU STILL IN PAIN?”

The kid looked uncertain on how to answer, and glanced back over at Sans for a hint, which surprised him. Apparently they didn’t want to worry his brother and were willing to put up with a broken bone rather than ask for help; it was sweet, in a way, and sad in another. What had happened to them on the surface that made them so desperate to avoid being a burden?

Rather than force them to answer, Sans just stepped forward and said, “i think we should just check their arm, bro. i couldn’t get a look at it cuz of their sweater.” Both of the brothers could read the alarm in the human’s heavy-lidded eyes, and he was quick to add on, “it won’t hurt, i promise. i just need to see it so i know what i’m dealing with.”

Frisk reluctantly allowed Papyrus to roll up their sweater sleeve, demonstrating remarkable self-control and not using any more pressure than necessary, until Sans could see the large, purple bruise forming in the middle of their forearm. Yep, it was definitely broken, but no bones were puncturing the skin so they weren’t in danger of infection.

Sans scratched his eye socket and said, “i’ll go get some bandaids when the shopkeeper’s store opens tomorrow morning; it’ll be as good as new in no time. but for now, pap, i need somethin sturdy to brace it with, and a wrap.”

Papyrus reached into the small pocket on the front of his sweater and pulled out a smooth bone that was the same length as Frisk’s forearm. Sans couldn’t help but smile at the kid’s amazement and Papyrus’ proud “NYEH HEH HEH” before he was handed Papyrus’ scarf. He turned to Frisk and looked at them questioningly until they clenched their jaw and bravely held out their arm. Papyrus supported the appendage and held the bone against it as gently as he could while Sans wrapped them snugly together, never drawing out more of a reaction than a sharp intake of breath when he tied it off.

They all leaned back to breathe a sigh of relief as black smoke came billowing out of the kitchen.

Papyrus stood up triumphantly and yelled, “OH! THE SPAGHETTI IS ALMOST DONE. NO DON’T GET UP, I’LL BRING BOTH OF YOU A PLATE WHEN IT’S READY! PREPARE TO BE DAZZLED BY MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS’ SIGNATURE DISH! NYEH HEH HEH!” as he ran head-on into the acrid cloud.

Frisk looked up at Sans with both eyebrows slightly raised, and Sans grinned back. “hey, don’t worry kid, it’s going _tibia_ fine. and if it’s not,” he patted the front of his jacket, “we got some _spare ribs_ for dinner too.”

The kid started giggling as Papyrus squawked in fury from the kitchen, and Sans thought, “ _oh yeah. this could be fun_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good news! Extreme procrastination set in, so have another chapter! Now I have to go read 150 pages of a novel, type up a 5-page essay, and draft a debate speech. Yay!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! This is my first fanfic on this site so feedback is very much appreciated; I have an awkward writing style that can make comprehension difficult at times, and I may not have tagged everything. I'm not sure when or if I'll be able to update because pre-Winter Break college season is starting to kick in and I'm beginning to feel the extra work load, but I'll try my best!


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